ARE MPs GUNNING FOR OMRAN? The House of Representatives is working on a draft law that would tighten oversight of the head of the EGX through an authority which could remove him from his position, said MP Emad Mahrous. The bill has the support of 70 other MPs. Ali El Moselhy, the Nazif-era cabinet minister and former head of Egypt Post who now chairs the House Economics Committee, said that the EGX will be on the agenda when the House reconvenes from its recess next week, AMAY reports. As we noted back in July, moves to “reform” the EGX were prompted by 20 MPs who called for the formation of a committee to monitor “the poor management” of the bourse and “the constant losses [incurred by] minority shareholders.”

Mahrous hinted that a lobbying “campaign by shareholders” is (in part) driving the motion. This comes despite Cabinet considering amendments to the Capital Markets Law that strengthen minority shareholder rights. The House Economics Committee had also called for a probe into the GDR trade back in July.

Legal Affairs Minister Magdy El Agaty confirmed that the amendments to legislation governing the EGX are part of a wider legislative agenda on governance of capital markets and investment promotion that the House is due to discuss. These include a new incentives for investors, the formation of a higher council on investment, and amendments to the companies act, the minister said, stopping short of getting into details.